Tunnel Tyrants

The tunnel tyrant is a creature that oddly resembles a creature in gnomish fairy tales. The beast of these tales is probably based on early encounters of gnomes with tunnel tyrant in a long forgotten past. This may hint that the tunnel tyrant might have been more common in areas closer to the surface but for what reason ever then vanished from the tracks of history for an untold time just to reappear in the recent invasions from below. Given the sheer numbers encountered, it's save to assume that the tunnel tyrant at least in our time isn't at the verge of extinction. Sadly enough they hold up to all the vicious and cruel things that the old tales attributed to them. It possesses a raw, bestial cunning and though not capable of speech like in the tales, they obviously posses some sort of intelligence. They often hold back in battle until they spot an opening or weakness and tend to let others do the dirty work and take the beating. They prefer fights where the odds are at their favour and like to ambush unsuspecting opponents. They rather wait for reinforcements than to attack on their own and often circle their opponent like a shark before ready to strike. In the armies of those below they somewhat lack the opportunity to act as cautious and cunning as they are used to but more often then not the causality rating of a battle is on their favour. In freedom the tunnel tyrant is a highly territorial creature that hunts in small packs that have their lairs in spacious caves. With their emergence in the armies of those bellow the tunnel tyrant can no longer be considered to be a rare creature of the depths but if there are a greater number of lager populations deeper down or if they are specifically bread for the armies, no one can tell. Their usual prey are bugs and cave spiders that stand no chance against them. Bolder packs occasionally raid the lairs of giant spiders and their brood, which seems to be a special treat for them. By all devious cunning they are not cowardly though. If they decided on a prey they will fight viciously with all their might to bring down even bigger and stronger opponents.

Tunnel Tyrants have 5200 hitpoints. They are strong against energy damage. On the other hand, they are weak against ice damage. These creatures can neither be summoned nor convinced. In addition, they are able to sense invisible creatures.

Tunnel Tyrants yield 3400 experience points. They carry tunnel tyrant heads, tunnel tyrant shells and sometimes other items with them.